It all seems to go back to June of 09 when I tried to catch up with LawnChairBoy A.K.A Uncle Jed while in Tidewater buying my (A.K.A Jethro) GS.

We didn't make it.

So, we tried again at New Years while we were visiting friends.

We didn't make it.

So, in January while helping a friend pack up to deploy to Afghanistan we tried a third time.

Drinks were had. Lots of German food. Philosophy and scotch were discussed and the Torrey seed planted. It went like this...

"Dude, you need to come to Torrey with me""Dude, I don't have 3 weeks to ride out there and back""Dude, don't be such a $%@%^@$%@$%@ %^#^&$^$ (recording is garbled here, seems scotch spilled on the recorder and all there is are licking sounds)

About 4 weeks later as I sat quietly at work one day I get a text..."Dude, meet me for a drink, I'm in town tonight only..."

I rode down. We had beers. The hook was tested:

"Dude, meet me along the way and we can trailer to Torrey""Dude, I don't know if I can take that much time"

"Dude, you NEED to come with me..."

We agreed, that I would indeed accompany and that[/i] we'd meet in Nashville on our way to the I70 corridor.

I said, "I wonder if we can meet at Shannon's (A.K.A. ShannieMae) house? Wouldn't that be something if [i]she wanted to go too?"

"No, that'd be @$%@$@% EPIC...! We better lean on her about this at BRR."

Nonetheless, we leaned, it worked and on Saturday May 15th the Clampetts loaded up for Torrey.

Uncle Jed surveyed the "rig" the rainy Sunday morning we took off for parts west:

Next stop: I70...

Matt

2005 1200GS (Traveller) IBA 37694

" ...if no one among us is capable of governing himself, then who among us has the capacity to govern someone else? " --Ronald Reagan

So.... Those of you who read the build up thread or were at BRR know that there were rules on this trip. Those societal norms were to be the glue that held this trip together and kept us from offing each other in the night and lobbing the bodies into a canyon some place.

We also decided that as a rough order for driving, more or less we rotated the driver and navigator at each gas stop. Drive, navigate, nap, drive. That way the person just waking up has no clue to conditions/location or impending weather. It works...

Really.

Leading off, since it was his truck and trailer Uncle Jed led us into the rain. We had a cooler of bottled water and diet coke, some healthy snacks and even the makings of a good and healthy energy lunch designed to keep us out of fast food joints as well as help us power through the night so we could make Ouray in a single day of driving.

Halfway through the first tank of gas we're someplace in KY at a McDonald's... I think there was a missed turn early on and we were trying to get to the wrong connector back to our regular path.

...

Matt

2005 1200GS (Traveller) IBA 37694

" ...if no one among us is capable of governing himself, then who among us has the capacity to govern someone else? " --Ronald Reagan

Awright already!!! Here ... some of us had to get back to the real world for awhile

Well, I-70 would be the next stop ... eventually. But first I had to make sure that rig was loaded properly 'cause goodness knows Uncle Jed and Jethro sure didn't So, I filled a small cooler with snacks (bananas, nutty bars, beef jerky etc)

but more important was I grabbed my favorite pillow and .... THE SNUGGIE!!!!

Once Chris got settled in with the snuggie, I took over driving, in this mess:

After several hours, I was very happy to hand the driving over to Jethro at about Kansas City so someone else had to do the drive across Kansas

Shannon IBA 44616'04 R11S (Roadrunner)'69 F250 (Beast)'09 328iX (Bebe)"Tact: The art of telling someone to go to hell in such a manner that he anticipates the trip." Unknown

I believe I took it in Kansas as night closed in.... I-70: Kansas. Is there anything else really necessary to describe?

We headed off to the south around Oakley, KS enroute to Co Springs via KS40 and CO94. It had gotten very late, sleeping noises and random gaseous emissions were commencing without warning from Jethro in the front seat while Shannie Mae got her beauty rest in the back seat safely wrapped up and snuggilicious. Around midnight or so, at some point after crossing into CO, we hit the absolute worst pea soup fog I have ever seen, that includes while at sea. Visibility was around 50feet and I was forced to a very slow crawl for a couple of hours, found a place to pull off once but the bear next to me in the front of the cab was sawing the lumber so I said screw it and kept moving at about 30mph. Around 3 am or so, I threw up the while flag and poured an ice cold red bull down the front of jethro's drawers...(not really) and he took the reins. After this, I remember snatching little 20 minute naps in the front while Shannie Mae continued her beauty rest in the snuggi burrito.

It was shortly after this, 4-5AM that we were coming down 94, which is long and straight and you can see the lights of CO springs for a good ways as you come in. There were several instances of very little apparent gravity in the truck, one of which jolted me from a micro nap... I asked in jethro was OK, all I got was "critter".

The gravity got turned off a couple of more times as we progressed, much as a meteor, down from the high ground and into CO springs, where the gas station hunt commenced, again. Shannon was apparently beautiful enough at this point to take the wheel again and gratefully, the next time I woke up, around 9AM, we were to the west of Pueblo on 50 running by the water......

good things come to those who wait, transporter of incompetent dirt riders....

Shannie-Mae did keep the men-folk from becoming thirsty by using the redneck, rear bed cooler access port from time to time.... it was that, or there was inappropriate GS lust going on back there, I was scared to look.

Day 2 found us leaving Pueblo heading toward Montrose and getting our first real glimpses of CO scenery. If saw any of our posts on facebook along the way, you know our opinions of Colorado.

Up and over Monarch pass, past the reservoir near Gunnison and then into Montrose heading for Ouray we pushed on Finally making it to Ouray and getting settled into the campground we decided that this might be a good rest and relax day instead of a riding day. We'd spent 26 hours only inches apart and between my snoring, Jed's gaseousness and Shannie-Mae's hogging of the snuggie it would be a good day to do nothing.

So we did.

We unpacked the bikes and sorted our gear for riding the next day, we got some food up in Ridgeway and decided to have some drinks and cook dinner at the campground.

It was idyllic, great friends good chow and wonderful surroundings.

We never expected what would await us on Day 3!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Matt

2005 1200GS (Traveller) IBA 37694

" ...if no one among us is capable of governing himself, then who among us has the capacity to govern someone else? " --Ronald Reagan

we were well rested and ready to see some of SW CO. Having been through the area before it was very enjoyable to take Matt and Shannie-mae up from Ridgeway on 50, into Montrose and then to turn east heading back to Gunnison and the canyon. It was great, very little to no traffic and gorgeous as always.

shannon is still figuring out the new camera with the fancy automatic timer...

then Matt decides he has had enough of my S^%$ for this trip and makes like I'm gonna be swimming the canyon.

the weather was terrible

All in all, Colorado did not suck that day. We RTB'd back to the KOA and roughed it appropriately and cranked on the space heater

What Uncle Jed didn't mention, is that we got back to the campground and thought we might try to take a run up to Telluride, but ended up in pouring rain and then sleet about 12 miles outside of Ridgeway. Wisely we turned around and headed back to that wine

Shannon IBA 44616'04 R11S (Roadrunner)'69 F250 (Beast)'09 328iX (Bebe)"Tact: The art of telling someone to go to hell in such a manner that he anticipates the trip." Unknown

Up and out early Chris and I make it to Ridgeway for coffee and we find...

This...From the picture it's hard to tell if the bran muffin started to work or if something else is wrong...

Rousting Shannie-Mae we head off to get geared up and rolling so we can cover a lot of ground today.

Heading up highway 62 we break out onto highway 141 to 90 to 491 heading southwest. On 491 I look up and Chris is gone, rolling over the horizon, apparently a victim of the acceleration flu. Gripping the loud handle and putting it on the stops we chase after him.

We make a quick pit stop and come out to find that Uncle Jed has been replaced with the Java Monster!

Heading on up the road, we decide not to hit the Four Corners and instead go straight on up to Durango, do some shopping and hit the Million Dollar Highway heading back to Ouray.

Weather is great, warm in town but a little chilly up the mountain. Skies are clear, not a lot traffic and we have the road ahead!

Climbing and climbing until we get close to Silverton where we pull off into the Molas Pass overlook.

Even a gratuitous group picture:

It was simply gorgeous up there on the mountain.

And the hi-viz Abominable O-man came into view!

Wind and weather had been factors all day as we rode east into Cortez and later Durango. It finally started looking like it was getting close so we put some leather to the horses and decided to make some hay while the sun was shining. The metaphor police were on low alert that day!

Past Silverton we're on the home stretch back to the cabin when we decided to try and check out an overlook over an old mine operation. It had a decent amount of snow blocking the path so we didn't go on up there in name of safety...

Back onward, loving the ride on the million dollar highway when we got back into Ouray. Right there in the middle of the street was a huge doe that I think was contemplating eating Chris' sunglasses as she sauntered across 550. Big as an RT, completely unconcerned about anyone else being there.

There're more pictures, I'll let the others add them.

Matt

2005 1200GS (Traveller) IBA 37694

" ...if no one among us is capable of governing himself, then who among us has the capacity to govern someone else? " --Ronald Reagan

Torrey is about people. Yes, there are a lot of great riding roads, awesome scenery, and a relaxed constabulary. But, it's been happening twice a year for 10 years now. That kind of staying power doesn't come about just because of a bunch of twisty asphalt.

What were you doing when Richard arrived?

I find it's hard to get people to understand where Torrey is. Very few know Capital Reef National Park even exists. Some will recognize the names Zion and Bryce, but not know anything about them. This year, I'm simply saying that Torrey is about an hour and twenty minutes from the nearest traffic light.

Did I mention the scenery?

Let me get around to the Clampetts. They seemed a little wide-eyed and excited when I brought up the idea of riding to Cedar Breaks by way of Utah 12. Living on the left coast, I find it interesting to ride with people from the other side. There's this culture gap regarding speed limits, double-yellow lines, and twisty roads that doesn't come easy for them. We worked it out though. I'll let Matt describe how to keep up on a GS...

Seems I always stop for pictures here..

Utah 14 to Cedar Breaks still had some sand and gravel on it. And, some of the most vicious tar snakes to date. These things were soft and squishy to my boot when there was snow right next to the road. Sad, how recessing bots dots so they don't present a hazard to motorcycles is becoming more and more common, yet tar snakes are not considered a risk.

Okay, I'll step down off the soap box. Navajo Lake was still somewhat frozen.

For some reason, the new bikes are in most of the pictures I took. This one's got Shannon in it too.

Matt showing the latest "Day in The Snow" style from Florida.

We made it to the summit, but the road to Cedar Breaks National Monument was closed.

175 miles of tight mountain roads, interrupted by miles of high speed sweepers, had taken its toll. The morning's wide-eyed enthusiasm was gone. We were met by a vicious head wind when we stopped for gas at the bottom of Utah 14. At one point I got ahead of the group and pulled over at the junction of 89 and 12 to wait. As I pulled out behind them I noticed that the road was straight and no one was coming, so I passed the group to get back in front. Chris started yelling in the radio about seeing a truck with a law enforcement sticker on the door. I looked around, but didn't see anything. Hey, without pictures, it didn't happen....

To Chris, Matt, and Shannon: Thanks for making a bunch of good Torrey memories.

If you've never been to Torrey, go. It's a beautiful place. If you can get there for one of the BMWST gatherings all the better. We'll do our best to show you that Torrey is all about the people.

had a blast, although I had to work on my anticipatory throttle to have a prayer of keeping the streaking K-bikes in sight. I cannot for the life of me figure out why the LEO in the truck didn't come after you for a talk when we made the right turn heading back in to Bryce, you made the jump to light speed right next to him where he sat on the side of the road.

A pleasure to ride with you both, until the devil winds started kicking up.

High winds indeed, it was a good precursor for the next day's drive across KS!

It was a great day, a wonderful ride up over and amongst the deer, all the snow on the ground (in May? Seriously?) and of course the scenery. Dennie and Laney thanks for showing us around, I had a ball chasing those rocket ships you two were riding.

Jethro and Dennis, Nikon spokesmodels

Some "proper" perspective at the first photo opp stop:

And one of my favorite pictures from the trip, in large part because of the guy riding a snow mobile 150 yards away from where we too, these.

ShannieMae even talked a stranger into taking a group shot for us

Thanks again you two, I can't wait to play triple digit crack the whip again!

Matt

2005 1200GS (Traveller) IBA 37694

" ...if no one among us is capable of governing himself, then who among us has the capacity to govern someone else? " --Ronald Reagan

Thursday morning dawned clear in Ouray and knowing that we had a lot of miles to make, Shannon and I suited up and hit the road about 8AM.

We made for Telluride up highway 62 and cut down highway 145 to Cortez, CO. We did our first 140 miles down enjoying lots of great scenery and wonderful sweepers along the river. We didn't take a lot of photos at this point as were pretty excited to get to the Four Corners monument and get into UT.

So, onward we pushed after gas in Cortez, and then things started to unravel...

From Cortez to the 4 corners we started off on loose gravel that was freshly oiled, unmarked and generally crappy as we progressed south on CO 161...

We got to the corner to make the turn over to the Four Corners and were greeted by a sign that read "Four Corners Monument Closed" Undaunted, we figured that we might be able to see at least something...

Truth be told, I was paranoid of dropping the GS on here so I took it a tad too easy and messed up some of Shannon's timing on the corners. About halfway up I finally got my groove and started riding it more comfortably, this dual-sport stuff is still pretty new to me.Yep, Shannie Mae did it on the 1100S.

As we hadn't been able to do much at the Four Corners we decided to check out the Natural Bridge NP as it's just about at the intersection of 261 and UT95.

It was neat, but I felt it was over hyped by the park staff. I was naughty though and rode around without my helmet in the park...

Sightseeing out of the way and with another 150 miles to go, we hit the highway on a date with a road we heard was "transcendant," UT95.

It was ok...

It was a ball! We made really good time flying up the road from the park up to the overlook just north of Glenn Canyon in just over an hour IIRC. As we pulled into the overlook, there was this creepy guy who looked oddly familiar...

I tried to dispose of him...

Actually, this day was Chris' birthday. Part of the EPIC NATURE of this trip was that our birthdays are on consecutive days. Doing the trip across the birthdays... You get the idea.

He had trailered over to Torrey from Ouray whilst we were lolly-gagging down south. He unloaded his bike at the hotel and hauled ass down looking for us so he could use concern for our safety as an excuse to ride his favorite road...

We made a quick gas stop in Hanksville and steamrolled our way into the hotel where a quick change and a shower had us all presentable to head over to the Chuckwagon to see what kind of lunatics frequent this Torrey place...

Matt

2005 1200GS (Traveller) IBA 37694

" ...if no one among us is capable of governing himself, then who among us has the capacity to govern someone else? " --Ronald Reagan

#608559 - 06/13/1008:17 PMRe: Day 5 of the Clampetts go to Torrey,.. We finally get there!
[Re: Matts_12GS]

2. They also discussed something called the "Mokee Dugway" ... again, it was buried amongst talk of dual sport stuff, so I tuned it out.

3. They claim they talked to me about the feasibility of doing the Dugway on my S ... I don't remember any such conversation ... nor did I realize that the Dugway involved any dual sporting, so when they asked if I thought that route was ok, I of course said "Sure!" and then proceeded to tune them out.

I will admit, I started to get concerned about the route picked by Jethro when, after leaving the Four Corners I realized the long, dusty road appeared to dead end at the red rock cliffs.

I got even MORE concerned when I saw signs indicating that the pavement was going to end in 6 miles.

And yes ... as Jethro grinned at me while we sat on a sand shoulder ... I again had to ask myself just "WTF was I thinking???" when I agreed to come on this trip

Nevertheless, heading back was clearly not an option at this point, so I took a deep breath and proceeded to follow Jethro up and around and up and around all those crazy gravel switchbacks!

***As for Natural Bridges, yes, it may have been a bit overhyped, but it's still amazing. I especially liked the way you can see how the waterways shape(d) the rocks and bridges.

As well as some really cool rock formations like this:

Not to mention the Godzilla-Style crows to be seen around the area:

(And no, the crow was not that big, but I was messing with the zoom on my new point & shoot camera and I thought that ended up being a trippy looking shot )

Anyhow ... we did the rest as described by Jethro, but I think it bears mentioning that I had one of the most moving experiences of my life on this leg of the trip. It seemed to be getting a bit late and we were running pretty hard through some river canyon type terrain (you know the kind ... sandy, dusty and scrubby looking). As I remember it, we came up and over a relatively small, non-descript rise and found ourselves confronted by The Valley of the Gods. I do not believe there has ever been a more aptly named place.

I wish I were more poetic so I could accurately describe the feelings evoked in me by what I saw ... The beauty of that surreal landscape made my heart squeeze so hard it hurt; and it is not an exaggeration to say that despite the heat, I found myself covered in goosebumps ---chilled from head to toe with tears filling my eyes. We did not stop, so no photo to share ... but truthfully, I'm kinda glad ... because I'm not sure a photo would really capture what I'm so pathetically trying to describe here.

When we got to the Boulderview, we were met with cold beers generously provided by some more BMWST "strangers" and then headed to the CW.

I was so excited, I could barely see straight! I was finally at Torrey! And I was finally going to meet some of the folks whose posts I've been following for years! As I was standing around meeting all the people whose names I knew I wouldn't stand a chance of remembering, I heard somebody say "Shannon??"

I turned around and there was Laney! We'd been crossing paths on-line for years (both here and on the VFRD board) and I was REALLY excited to meet in person! By the way ... if you don't know this already, be careful ... for being so petite, Laney can give absolutely rib CRUSHING hugs!! It was AWESOME!

So, after introductions were made, I ventured a request to ride with she & Dennis the next day to which they generously acquiecsed ...

I just didn't think this trip could get ANY Better!!

Shannon IBA 44616'04 R11S (Roadrunner)'69 F250 (Beast)'09 328iX (Bebe)"Tact: The art of telling someone to go to hell in such a manner that he anticipates the trip." Unknown

Well said! It was a fabulous day and I was so tickled to get to ride with you guys! (And again, sorry about being so slow on the uptake with the passing on the double yellow, etc... actually, I don't hesitate to do that at home, but tend to be a bit more tentative when I'm on unfamiliar roads in completely unfamiliar terrain! )

The only pictures I can add that might be of interest are this shot I got of the Kiva Koffeehouse (what a COOL place!)

A quick shot of a happy Laney:

And, well, Jethro being Jethro (or maybe this is the "wide eyed enthusiasm" you were mentioning earlier??

Shannon IBA 44616'04 R11S (Roadrunner)'69 F250 (Beast)'09 328iX (Bebe)"Tact: The art of telling someone to go to hell in such a manner that he anticipates the trip." Unknown

I wish I were more poetic so I could accurately describe the feelings evoked in me by what I saw ... The beauty of that surreal landscape made my heart squeeze so hard it hurt; and it is not an exaggeration to say that despite the heat, I found myself covered in goosebumps ---chilled from head to toe with tears filling my eyes. We did not stop, so no photo to share ... but truthfully, I'm kinda glad ... because I'm not sure a photo would really capture what I'm so pathetically trying to describe here.

Thats the best part of any trip. That few seconds where you kinda just go "WOW!". Try explaining it to someone who doesn't ride or travel by motorcycle and you will be left with blank stares of confusion. We get ya

I wish I were more poetic so I could accurately describe the feelings evoked in me by what I saw ... The beauty of that surreal landscape made my heart squeeze so hard it hurt; and it is not an exaggeration to say that despite the heat, I found myself covered in goosebumps ---chilled from head to toe with tears filling my eyes. We did not stop, so no photo to share ... but truthfully, I'm kinda glad ... because I'm not sure a photo would really capture what I'm so pathetically trying to describe here.

Thats the best part of any trip. That few seconds where you kinda just go "WOW!". Try explaining it to someone who doesn't ride or travel by motorcycle and you will be left with blank stares of confusion. We get ya

+1.

The description is not pathetic. BTDT, and look forward to doing it again.

It can happen lots of places, but Utah is pretty good at triggering it.

Joel (Big Friggin' Bumble Bee)'06 12GS (Big Muddy)Mile High Crew

#608774 - 06/14/1003:21 PMRe: Day 5 of the Clampetts go to Torrey,.. We finally get there!
[Re: Joel]

I wish I were more poetic so I could accurately describe the feelings evoked in me by what I saw ... The beauty of that surreal landscape made my heart squeeze so hard it hurt; and it is not an exaggeration to say that despite the heat, I found myself covered in goosebumps ---chilled from head to toe with tears filling my eyes. We did not stop, so no photo to share ... but truthfully, I'm kinda glad ... because I'm not sure a photo would really capture what I'm so pathetically trying to describe here.

Well said

I get that feeling every time I turn Northwest outa Blanding on to 95.

As much as we hated to do it, we had to finally start heading back to life and reality. After chasing Dennis and Laney up and down UT12 we were packing up the bikes and found that it was about 985 miles to my brother's house where we were thinking of stopping 2 days out.

Suddenly the idea occurred to help Shannie Mae get her Saddle Sore done. So, we looked at routes, fiddled with the plans and all of a sudden, we looked upon it and it was good. Well, the beers were good, the plan was about average.

Nonetheless, up with the sun, gone with the wind all the way down to Sweeper Madness.

A gas receipt to start the day, KAVU conditions and we were gone!

After sweeper madness it was about 650 miles of I-70 to the next turn.

Except for the WIND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We did the 500 mile right turn with the wind beating us up... We got all the way to Limon, CO and had to pack it in. A bottle of wine a baseball game on the tube and mcdonald's for dinner.

Day 7 was done about 500 miles short...

Matt

2005 1200GS (Traveller) IBA 37694

" ...if no one among us is capable of governing himself, then who among us has the capacity to govern someone else? " --Ronald Reagan

#609956 - 06/17/1002:05 PMRe: Day 7 of the Clampetts go to Torrey,.. And then there were two...
[Re: Matts_12GS]

Up and out of Limon, CO quickly to try and get some miles done before the winds picked back up.

We did the last couple hours of CO and hit the KS border mid morning, making good time and in good shape for the long run. KS, is a funny place and the light seems to make it do weird things to your perspectives. I think it's the way it reflects off all the boring...

Nonetheless, we pressed on, KS, MO, up and around St Louis to the north and then down into IL. Western IL smells pretty bad. Especially on a humid night when all those fine smells seem to cling to you. Yechhh!

It was in Metropolis, IL that we took our only picture of the entire day...

That was our last gas stop to make it home. We hit Nashvegas, got a closing receipt and Shannie Mae had qualified for her SaddleSore 1000 with the IBA.

It was a good ride, mostly without drama and I was glad to be a part of helping a friend achieve one of her goals.

Matt

2005 1200GS (Traveller) IBA 37694

" ...if no one among us is capable of governing himself, then who among us has the capacity to govern someone else? " --Ronald Reagan

I have to make one additional observation here: everybody complains about the "boring" in Kansas, but after the dry, flat, dull of Eastern Colorado, I thought the rolling green of Kansas was quite pretty

And while I've got the documentation together for the IBA application, I'm having trouble getting hold of a map that I can copy and put with the paperwork I tried to print off the Google map that shows our route, but it didn't work very well ... so the quest for my official IBA membership continues

Shannon IBA 44616'04 R11S (Roadrunner)'69 F250 (Beast)'09 328iX (Bebe)"Tact: The art of telling someone to go to hell in such a manner that he anticipates the trip." Unknown

I have to make one additional observation here: everybody complains about the "boring" in Kansas, but after the dry, flat, dull of Eastern Colorado, I thought the rolling green of Kansas was quite pretty

I guess I must have tried to block it out from the east side of Denver... I70 was mighty pretty; until you get to Denver it seems

Matt

2005 1200GS (Traveller) IBA 37694

" ...if no one among us is capable of governing himself, then who among us has the capacity to govern someone else? " --Ronald Reagan

That little Clampett went to NashvilleThe other little Clampett went dual sportingThis little Clampett rode home because...

My son, had taken up bad habits

like sanding and building his own pinewood derby car...

My dog, would just laze around waiting for my motorcycle to come home...

And my wife, well, she threatened me with physical harm if I put that picture up here. So, in the interest of marital uh, bliss, I'll continue.

I left Nashvegas bright and early on Monday, Day 9 of Clampettpalooza. Traffic sucked from about a block and a half from Shannie-Mae's crib.

I finally get moving enough to take a drink from my camelback safely only to discover that a) the bite valve is MIA and b) my camelback is now empty...

So, I motor on a bit knowing that it's only 8AM and any reasonable sporting goods store is not going to be open until about 10 so I begin to estimate where I'll be and look for shopping along the way where I can get a new bite valve.

I found one in Atlanta... But, how I found it is but another part of the story!

Sooooooooooo, I motor on, making some stops to check on hotels and things for future events...

Anywho, during day 8 I had torn one of the foam grip covers and was wanting to get a replacement. Being near BMW Atlanta, I punched in the waypoint and sallied forth. I knew I was cutting it close on gas but thought I remembered a gas station either near the dealer or near the Cobb Energy Center.

So, off the exit, up the hill toward the dealership and GASSSSSSSSSSSSSPPP...

Out of gas. Motherfather........! Now what? Pushing the bike into a shopping center I slide out my anonymous book, figuring I'll just call the dealer and nice and simple I'm hooked up. Oh shite! It's Monday, and they're closed. MOTHERFATHER!!!!!!!!!!!

Garmin tells me there is a gas station just about a half mile from where I am. Sooo, I lock up my gear, start to walking and hey! Lookie there, a Sports Authority. I know they'll have a bite valve, I may as well get it while I'm there.

In I go, bite valve in hand I ask the check out girl where the nearest gas is and she tells me about a mile! Out comes the AAA card whilst I peruse the aisles...

Finally gassed up again just 35 minutes later, I hit the highway flying and proceed right on through downtown ATL, down the slab and finally get into the autopilot mode the last 100 miles or so.

It's about 100 degrees and about that humid too. I'm probably pouring a pint of water on me for everyone 2 that I drink but I press on into Jacksonville.

Somewhere on this board I read of someone stopping a couple miles from home just to think about the trip before I went on to the house, so, I thought I'd try it.

I stopped about a mile from the house and took off my helmet for a couple moments.

I thought about the ride up to Shannon's 9 days ago and how jealous I was that they were drinking while I was sweating in the rain on the ride up

I thought about being all snuggiliciously warm in back seat of the truck while ShannieMae and Jed worked through KC, KS and then the evil fog.

I thought of that first moment it was bright enough at daybreak to see the snow capped peaks as we drove into CO

I thought of how painfully blue the sky was at Gunnison Gorge, and how much fun the million dollar highway was.

I thought of how wickedly fun it was using speed limit signs as a suggestion chasing Dennis and Laney.

I thought about the look on Shannon's face at the top of Moki Dugway

I thought about how close I became to two very special friends on this amazing trip and how thankful I was to be included in someone else's vacation.

And then, I thought of what was waiting for me at home. It was time for me to be back and reassume the duties of dad and husband and then the next day, employee.

For 9 days, each wake up was a brand new adventure. I was glad to be home, and welcomed the pangs of homesickness for the road.

So, to the Clampetts, I offer up this toast my contemporary peers ( )

To the rest of you, thanks for coming along. You've inspired me to keep telling this tale and as a result, I have been reliving it for almost 4 weeks now.

I can't wait to see what's next...

Matt

2005 1200GS (Traveller) IBA 37694

" ...if no one among us is capable of governing himself, then who among us has the capacity to govern someone else? " --Ronald Reagan